Cubs Fans= AYWKUBTTOD

If Cubs fans were a band, we’d have to be “And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead“.
Last night against the Tigers, the Cubs took the lead in the 8th inning with a DLee walk and a Micah Hoffpauir homer of Joel Zumaya. Marmol came in and K’d the side in the bottom of the inning. The Cubs did not score in the top of the ninth. In came Gregg and he walked the first batter, Don Kelly. I don’t even know who that is. Then he allowed a homerun to Rayburn, who was 4 for his last 24. Maybe he was due.

“I could have hit that ball out of the park,” Gregg said. “It slipped out of my hand. One of those you kind of hope he pops up. He popped it up right over the fence. It sucks.” Yeah it does.

I’ve been rough on Gregg because I’ve never thought of him as a closer. He’s a closer in name only, not stuff. I would have rather lived and died with Marmol, who is mostly unhittable, though he has had control issues.

You look at Gregg’s current numbers and they pretty much mirror his career numbers. He’s now allowed 6 home runs and his ERA is over 4.

“Things happen,” Carlos Zambrano said. “Not even K-Rod or Mariano Rivera can save every opportunity. They struggle, too, the best. Gregg is a human. Sometimes he’ll give it up, and sometimes he’ll be there for us.”

Notice how he did not include Gregg among the best. And the ‘Sometimes he’ll give it up, and sometimes he’ll be there for us’ line indicates the amount of confidence Zambrano has in him.

So after some very exciting wins the Cubs dump 2 straight — shutout by the Braves on Monday and then the soul-crusher last night. How there are any old Cubs fans is a mystery. This season is killing me.

Posted by admin on Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 7:12 am Filed under Cubs · Tagged with

http://www.i94sports.com rex jaybels

That was a tough one no doubt. I just keep looking to the standings and with how awful this season has been, the Cubs are right there. That is how I’m making it through.

PB

bahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

FIRE FORD MANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

http://waynefontes.com/ Big Al

An amazing game, and a gut punch loss for you guys.

When Zumaya was taken deep after getting stupid/cocky/combination of the 2 and insisted on throwing a change up when he had unhittable 104 MPH gas (word is he shook off catcher Gerald Laird’s call for a fastball 3 times!), I assumed the game was lost. Even the \happy haze my back surgery pain pills give me couldn’t get my hopes up.

The last person I expected to win the game by going yard was Ryan Raburn. Raburn is a decent role player, nothing more. What’s even more interesting, he was hitting in Magglio Ordonez’s spot in the order, who, thanks to his mysterious loss of power, has become a $15 million slap hitter.

If Maggs is still in the lineup, the Cubs likely win. As they say Zoner, baseball is a funny game…

http://zonersports.com The Zoner

Yes it’s a funny game Big Al (good to hear from you, hope you are feeling well!) and Rex they are right there. But each year
only one team gets the trophy and most of the fun/excitement comes from the regular season. That is why this season has been killing me–especially after those exciting walkoff wins. It’s been a tough season to watch for me, on both sides of town.

http://majorleaguejerk.com Hef

After stealing two or three wins in a row, you’re mad they lost one at the end? That’s just the universe evening things out a bit.

http://www.thefriendlyblogfines.com Matt Clapp

I still don’t understand what it matters how your stuff is at closer. It’s about how often you get the job done. Rod Beck, Todd Jones, and Rick Aguilera didn’t have amazing stuff, but they had the mentality to pitch in the 9th inning(which so many don’t) and many more times than not, got the job done. It’s about not allowing 1-3 runs in, not how you look doing it.

Gregg’s 11 of 14 in save chances now, that’s the only stat we should be concerned about. It’s not great by any means, but Kerry Wood is 9 of 13, and Carlos Marmol is 3 of 6. Additionally, he’s only allowed runs in 2 of his last 16 appearances, he’d been outstanding of late.

Marmol is definitely not the better option right now. I wanted him to be the closer out of ST, but if I would’ve known he’d have these control issues, not a chance. He’s walked 33 batters and hit 6 batters in 33.2 innings pitched. That’s 39 free baserunners in 33.2 innings. Add in that in the 9th inning, hitters are bearing down, doing whatever they can to get on base. You could probably add on another 5 walks to his total because of that for the 9th inning. That’s not a good recipe for success.

Now if Marmol looks like the pitcher we saw last night, the pitcher we’d seen the previous 2 years, then absolutely he’s the better option. I think he has the mentality to handle it considering all of the bases loaded no out situations he’s come in for in the past, but you still never know until they’re out for the 9th. It’s a whole different animal. For this immediate moment, Gregg is the best option. I need to see at least a few more outings like last night out of Marmol before I’ll think otherwise.